Pancakes
by Hannah-Kiwii
Summary: HikaruxHaruhi. Kyoya’s business mind had roped Haruhi into the whole sorry affair. He had ordered her to the cookery classrooms with a pile full of ingredients, an unhelpful helper and a promise to reduce her debt if she baked enough cakes for everyone.


**Author's notes:** I was bored and trying to avoid revision. I asked my friend to give me a prompt and a ship, and she said "Pancakes, Hikaru/Haruhi". I'm not sure this is entirely in character, but it's not bad for an afternoon's work.

Also, it does seem I'm working my way through Ouran ships at the moment, doesn't it? I reckon I'm just trying to find my feet with the characters more than anything.

Dedicated to Robyn, because she inspired it. And to Ben, cos when I think baking, I think him (he likes my cakes, see)...and he's in hospital at the mo, so I'm thinking of him a lot. Love you bro, get well soon.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ouran. Obviously.

**Pancakes**

Hunny had chosen the theme for today. It wasn't a big surprise really; Haruhi was just shocked Kyoya had gone along with it. It would be so expensive to buy all the extra food though, especially the foreign deserts.

Yes, that's right. Hunny's theme was "deserts". He wanted there to be a selection of sweet foods from around the world for everyone to try.

It was different to say the least.

Kyoya had obviously calculated the cost quicker than Haruhi. He agreed to Tamaki's suggestion of buying some sweets from the commoner's supermarket, and sent of an expedition team to the store to find some reasonably priced food. Tamaki, expedition leader; Kaoru, map reader; Hunny, cake expert; and Mori, his constant companion, had set off for the supermarket armed with flashy credit cards and too much enthusiasm (apart from Mori, who never seemed enthusiastic about anything).

Kyoya was in the school canteen, supervising the school cooks in the creation of several more exotic dishes. Kyoya had extensively researched foreign deserts in order to give directions to the kitchen staff, and thus avoiding the need to book a specialist caterer.

Finally, Kyoya's business mind had roped Haruhi into the whole sorry affair. He had ordered her to the cookery classrooms with a pile full of ingredients, an unhelpful helper and a promise to reduce her debt if she baked enough cakes for all the customers.

She wasn't overly pleased about the situation. She'd be in here for hours, and this room always grew too hot with all the ovens on. What's more, everything in this kitchen was automated. She couldn't even find a hand held whisk among all the gadgets and gismos. Haruhi liked cooking. Just not for so many people.

Nevertheless, there was money at stake here, and if she ever wanted to be free from this madness she needed to get rid of her debt. She rolled up her sleeves determinedly and began to sort through the ingredients. She disregarded anything she didn't recognize, and soon had a reasonable assessment of what she was working with. She decided on something simple to start with. She could easily make enough cupcakes for all the customers and maybe three or four sponge cakes as well.

She looked up to find Hikaru juggling with some fruit. He'd obviously grown bored quicker than normal. She watched him drop an apple, and made a note to keep the eggs out of his reach.

"Hikaru," she addressed, and the rest of the fruit joined the apple on the floor. "Could you please turn one of the ovens up to gas mark 3?"

She began to weigh out the flour.

"Ano, Haruhi?"

"Yes," she replied, not looking up.

"What does 'gas mark 3' mean?"

She groaned and put down the bag of flour. So much for accelerated education: Ouran students knew nothing.

She walked to the cooker he was stood at. "You see this dial here?" she asked, pointing to the control for the oven. Hikaru nodded. "Just twist it until the 3 is at the top." She did so.

"It's hissing," Hikaru barked, and then laughed. "That's a weird sound." He sniffed. "Haruhi, do you smell gas?"

"Just press the ignition, Hikaru," Haruhi instructed.

"The wh-"

"The little red button."

"Oh right." He did as instructed.

"Now bend down and look in the oven. Is it lit?"

"Yeah, there's a little fire at the back."

Haruhi returned to weighing and mixing her ingredients.

"Is that it?" Hikaru interrupted again. Really, if Kyoya had wanted to be helpful he would have sent Hikaru to the shop with the rest of them. Then again, the twins being together would have increased the already too high chances of disaster in that group.

"As far as lighting the oven goes," Haruhi answered monotonously.

There was silence for a few more moments, and Haruhi finished the putting everything into the bowl and plugged in the electric whisk.

"Ha-ru-hi," whined Hikaru. "My apple has a bruise on it."

Haruhi looked up to find Hikaru holding out a very battered looking apple for her to inspect. "It will get bruised if you juggle with it," Haruhi told him unsympathetically.

He stopped sulking when he spotted the whisk and his eyes lit up mischievously. "Can I do that?" he asked eagerly.

Haruhi didn't even get to answer before he had snatched it from her hand. He turned it on and shoved it in the cake mix. The mix flew everywhere. With one hand in front of her face to protect for from the flying gloop Haruhi used her other hand to find the wall switch and unplug the whisk. The gadget spluttered and slowed down, and the cake mix stopped flying. There were next to no ingredients left in the bowl.

"Hikaru!" Haruhi fumed.

"Yes?" Hikaru smiled innocently, his eyes twinkling.

"You can clean up this mess!" she informed him angrily. "Kyoya-senpai is going to kill me!"

She threw a wet cloth at his face, but he caught it before it hit him. "I'm sorry Haruhi," he pronounced perfectly, his eyes wide with fake regret.

"Clean," she ordered, pointing at the mess coving the work surface. Hikaru did so in defeat, grumbling all the while.

Haruhi sorted through the ingredients once more. Most of what was of the best quality was now all over the floor. There was really only one option, and she just hoped that Kyoya wouldn't make a fuss about her serving a desert that was supposedly made from leftovers.

"What are we making next, Haruhi?" Hikaru asked enthusiastically. Had Haruhi thought ahead properly, she would have sent him out of the room to prevent further damages.

"Pancakes," she explained. "I don't have many ingredients left, and the ones I do have are of a fairly low quality, so pancakes make sense."

"What can I do?" Hikaru asked eagerly. After a moments deliberation Haruhi decided that giving him a task might prevent him from interfering in what she was doing.

"You can weigh out the flour," she conceded, pressing the bag of flour into his hands.

He squeezed the bag as he took it from her. A little puff of white erupted from the bag and encircled his head. "Oh," said Hikaru in surprise. He squeezed the bag again, and grinned. "Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi! Look at this!" he insisted.

"Just weigh out the flour, Hikaru," she instructed, not looking up from the recipe she was pursuing.

Hikaru's smile fell at the lack of attention. He'd only agreed to do the cooking because Haruhi was fun to play with, and if she wasn't going to play along willingly, he was going to have to make her.

"Haruhi," he started again.

"What?" she asked, still not looking up.

"You have something in you hair," he stated innocently. She ran her hand through her hair absentmindedly. "It's still there."

She straightened up, running her fingers through her hair more methodically. "Is it gone now," she asked, turning to him.

"Let me help you," he offered. Taking a big handful of flour, he ran his fingers through Haruhi's hair. "There," he announced, grinning at her.

"Hik-" she began. She shook her head slightly as she spoke, creating a miniature snow storm.

Hikaru cut her off by dropping another handful of flour on her head. She stared at him, dumbstruck, as he smirked back.

He repeated the action again, watching her confused face redden as she grew angry.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Ha-ru-hi," he enunciated.

"What?" she demanded sharply

He grinned at her devilishly. "Why do you have flour in your hair?" he asked, face deadpan.

Normally she wouldn't have reacted, but Ranka had woken her last night when he'd come in a little too loudly, so she was tired. She was also afraid of Kyoya's reaction. Not only did she not have the cakes, but she was covered in the ingredients that were supposed to be for the cakes. She couldn't host like this.

Hikaru just stood there and smirked.

She grabbed the syrup and emptied the tin over his head.

Now it was Hikaru's turn to look shocked.

"Your hair is sticky, Hikaru!" Haruhi chirped cheerfully.

Hikaru brought his hand to his hair, and when he pulled it away his fingers were gummed together, and trail of syrup connected his hand and his head. He lifted one finger to his mouth, sucking the golden liquid from it. "Mmmm," he groaned, and turned to her smirking once more. "You are so going to pay for that."

He grabbed the bag of sugar from the work surface beside them, but Haruhi took off before he could empty the bag onto her already white hair.

Haruhi ran down the isle and tripped, grabbing the work surface to steady herself, not halting in her escape. She knocked a jug of water skidding to the floor in the process. In his desperate and wild pursuit, sugar flying everywhere, Hikaru didn't realise the polished floor had suddenly become extra slippery and skidded the rest of the way across the classroom after Haruhi.

Unable to stop himself, his momentum carried him forward into Haruhi and slammed the two of them into the work bench at the far end of the room.

Silence fell, and cake ingredients settled over the room like finely powdered snow.

"Owww," groaned Haruhi.

The hilarity of the situation was suddenly lost in panic. "Haruhi, look at me, are you okay?"

She seemed slightly dazed. "Hikaru?" she asked warily. There were tears in her eyes. He took her face in his hands.

"Haruhi, where does it hurt? Did you bang your head?"

"My head?" she questioned, tilting it to the side. It pressed against his left palm. Her eyes were watering. She was blinked rapidly, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheek and gracing the edge of his thumb. "No, I think I banged my elbow. And my contacts have slipped."

She reached her hand around his to take out the offending lenses. He moved his hands from her face to her shoulders. The slight loss of contact made him release a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, although he knew Haruhi would interpret the sigh as relief for her safety. His hands felt like they were on fire where they had touched her face, and he knew his face must be red too. When had things become so tense around Haruhi?

Haruhi glanced over his shoulder and took in the room in one sweeping glance.

"Kyoya is going to kill us," she stated simply.

How many times today has she mentioned stupid Kyoya? Hikaru examined this thought whilst Haruhi continued to survey the damage. He was jealous.

He looked back at Haruhi, only to find her staring at him. "What?" he asked, self-conscious. She burst out laughing. "What?!"

"You look so funny," she gasped. "Like a half melted snow man."

Looking at Haruhi, he wouldn't be surprised if that was true. She was covered in white powder. He must look worse. She didn't have a tin of syrup in her hair.

He joined her laughter. Holding her shoulders for support as she clutched her knees, they laughed until they were breathless. Haruhi, her breathing still not returned to normal, watched as Hikaru composed himself. Something close to mischief flashed in his eyes, but it was darker than before. Haruhi stiffened.

Hikaru extended his hand towards her, and with one slender finger stroked her cheek. She watched, mesmerized, as he lifted the finger to his lips and licked the cake ingredients from it. "Yum," he announced. "Sugar: my favourite."

She chuckled nervously. She was suddenly aware of how close Hikaru was as he pressed her against the work bench. She was also conscious of the fact that this was one of the few times that they had been very much alone. It was her and Hikaru. Just she and Hikaru, for Kaoru was causing trouble at a commoner supermarket on the other side of town right now.

Hikaru's face grew steadily red, but something akin to determination crossed his features and his blush began to recede. He smiled slyly at her.

He leaned close and placed his lips to her ear. "Haruhi," he purred.

Suddenly she was incredibly and inexplicably nervous. "Yeah," she stuttered.

"Hold still a second," he whispered, barely audible.

She obeyed his instruction to the letter and didn't move an inch. Placing his hands over her arms and holding her in place, he moved his lips to hers, pressing gently. She didn't move, didn't react at all. He was fairly sure it was shock that held her in place, but even if she did begin to think there wouldn't be any escape: he had her all but trapped against the worktop.

He pulled back to smile at her triumphantly.

"What did you do that for?" she asked, finding her voice again almost immediately. "You…you…you can't just go around doing that!"

Anger, annoyance and hurt followed one another on Hikaru's features. He tightened his grip on her shoulders and seeing an almost manic look in his eyes she panicked.

Looking around quickly for anything to defend herself she found a box not inches from her on the work surface. She congratulated herself silently of thinking to move the eggs away from Hikaru and the other ingredients. She twisted her arm from his grip and swiftly reached out to grab an egg. Her fingers wrapped around one, and when she brought it up to hold it above his head threateningly she knocked the box and the smashed eggs joined the rest of the ingredients on the floor.

He looked over her pathetic attempt at self defence with amusement. He released her shoulders and took hold of her wrist, but to her great surprise he brought her hand down to smash the egg over his hair.

Yolk dripped down the side of his face comically as he released her hand and brought both of his up to cup her face. She smiled at him weakly as he leaned in again.

Then his mobile rang

Hikaru cursed whoever was on the other end, but it was only the disapproving look on Haruhi's face that made him realised he'd done so out loud. He smiled at her apologetically as he answered the call, still holding her face with one hand.

"What?" he asked in an irritated tone, but his annoyed expression quickly grew anxious. "Yes…yes…yes, I understand…arigato Kyoya-senpai." He sighed and pocketed the phone.

"What is it?" she asked as Hikaru stepped away from her, his face pale.

He chuckled softly but half heartedly. "The event's been cancelled. Milord and Kaoru managed to get themselves arrested."

"A-arrested?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah." He shook his head. He then surveyed the kitchen. Every surface was covered in some component of a potential masterpiece. As it stood it looked like an explosion in a flour factory.

"I guess we've got to clean this up then?" Hikaru asked with an air of resignation.

"Yes," Haruhi said, surveying the damage with a panicked expression. "My mother always used to say that you had to clean up before you got to the best part, because you couldn't eat until you'd tidied your kitchen," she explained. "It is good advice, only we've not made anything to eat. There isn't a best part to get to." She rolled up her sleeves determinedly, taking hold of a mop.

Hikaru grabbed her into a hug from behind. "Oh, I don't know about that. I didn't get to the best part yet." Haruhi remained stiff but she didn't fight him off. "You know," he said offhandedly as he released her and began to wipe down the work surface, "as much fun as getting arrested sounds, I'm really glad Kyoya put me in the pancake making group after all."

**Author's Notes:** So, let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it. I actually have a certain fondness for this couple. Especially after the latest chapter, so you may see more from me on this one yet.


End file.
